Avoidance
by TessaStarDean
Summary: Sara's been ignoring Nick, and he just can't understand why.


"So," Nick said as he plopped down on the couch next to Sara and draped an arm around her. "You up for drinks with me and Warrick and Cath tonight?"

Sara gave him a strained smile and removed his arm from her shoulders.

"Actually, I can't."

Nick's face fell. "Why not?"

"I'm busy."

"Doing what?"

"Stuff."

"That's a lame excuse."

"Sorry, Nick."

"You're really not gonna come?"

She shook her head and stood up.

"I have lab results in. Talk to you later, okay?"

"Okay," he responded.

But Sara was already out of the room. Nick frowned in her wake, confused by her attitude. This wasn't the first time she had brushed him off. For the past few weeks it seemed that he couldn't get her alone for more than a minute, that she always had something to do or somewhere to be. He sifted through his memories, wondering if he had upset her. But he found nothing.

Sighing, he got up and went to find Warrick.

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"I think Sara's ignoring me."

Catherine and Warrick looked up from their drinks to look at Nick in confusion.

"What?" Catherine asked.

"Sara. She's ignoring me."

"What makes you think that?"

"The fact that she does whatever she can to get away from me lately. She won't come out with us. She barely says five words to me unless she has to. I'm telling you, she's ignoring me."

"No she's not."

"She is."

"Why would she ignore you,?" Warrick interjected. "You're like, her best friend."

"Not lately. I'm telling you, something's up."

"I think you're paranoid."

Nick waved his hand at him dismissively.

"Look, if you're that worried about it," Catherine advised. "Then why don't you just talk to her about it?"

"Because Sara doesn't talk about her feelings. It's like, her least favorite thing in the world to do."

"So you think she'll lie?"

"Or make up an excuse and run away."

"It's still worth a try."

"Maybe."

Not knowing what else to say, Catherine reached out and placed a gentle hand on his arm, giving him a reassuring squeeze. He smiled at her gratefully, but she could still the sadness in his eyes. Sharing a glance with Warrick, she wondered if there was some truth to Nick's fears.

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"Catherine, we've got a DB at the Bellagio. It's all yours. Take –"

"I'll go," Sara offered a little too quickly.

"I was going to put you with Nick," Grissom said slowly. "But if you want to go with Cath…"

"I do."

"Okay then. Nick, Warrick, you two get the DB in a parking garage down on West Boulevard."

As the two women walked out, Nick turned to Warrick with his hands on his hips, giving him a pointed look.

"Alright, I'll admit that was weird."

"What was?" Grissom asked.

Nick shook his head.

"Nothing. Come on. Let's go catch some bad guys. Maybe it'll cheer me up."

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"Aha!"

Sara looked up to look at Warrick in amusement. When he saw her looking at him, he shrugged his shoulders.

"We got the bastard. DNA proves it."

"Nice. I wish our case was that easy."

As Sara looked down again to continue her work, Warrick watched her carefully. At first he had been quick to dismiss Nick's fears as simple paranoia. But now he thought that there might be something more to it. Looking at his watch, he decided to test his theory.

"Damn!"

Sara looked up again.

"What?"

"I gotta go pick up a buddy. Crashed his car and needs a ride to work. Can you get these results to Nick for me?"

"Actually…" she replied slowly. "I promised Cath I'd meet her back at the crime scene. But I'm sure Greg could do it for you."

"Yeah, thanks."

Sara gave him a tight smile and then walked out of the room. Warrick watched her until she disappeared around a corner, and then headed out to find Nick.

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Warrick found Nick and Catherine in the break room, having a cup of coffee. Getting his own cup, he sat down to join them.

"Cath?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you supposed to be meeting Sara back at your crime scene right now?"

"I don't think so…"

"That's what I thought. Nick, you were right."

"About what?"

"Sara."

"See? I told you. She's ignoring me."

"I think 'avoiding' might be the better term."

"Whatever. She doesn't want to see me or talk to me."

"Something's not right, Nick," Catherine said. "Something must be bothering her."

"Then why doesn't she talk to me instead of pushing me away?"

"Maybe she doesn't want to talk about it."

"Then why isn't she avoiding you or Warrick or Greg? Why is it just me?"

Catherine shrugged and gave him a sad smile.

"I don't know. But I think you need to ask her."

Nick sighed and looked at Warrick, who nodded his agreement.

"Fine. I'll talk to her. But I bet you twenty-five bucks she doesn't tell me."

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When Nick went into the locker room at the end of his shift, he found Sara already there, gathering her things before she went home. She looked up at the sound of his entrance, and Nick could have sworn that he saw fear flash across her eyes. Trying to keep anything from showing on his face, he walked to his locker and opened it.

"Sara?"

She jumped a little when he said her name, but she tried to cover it with a small smile.

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

He stared hard into his locker as though he'd rather find the answer in there somewhere instead of asking her. But then he realized that she was waiting and he needed to just ask her.

"Have you been avoiding me?"

Sara froze at his question, but then realized that her silence was an answer in and of itself. Busying herself with tying her shoe, she answered him.

"What? No, of course not."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. I've just been really busy lately."

Nick nodded, shutting his locker and throwing his bag over his shoulder before walking over to the door. Opening it, he stopped and turned back.

"I miss you," he said quietly.

When she looked up, he was gone.

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He almost ignored the pounding on his door two hours later. He was tired and the fact that Sara had lied to him when asked a direct question hurt more than he wanted to admit. But his conscience nagged at him until he moved across the living room – Warrick or Catherine could need something, and he'd feel like an ass later if he had just ignored them because he was in a shitty mood.

But when he opened the door, he found himself staring at Sara, who was standing on his doorstep, soaked through to the bone from the pouring rain.

"Sara?"

"I lied to you," she blurted out.

"What?"

"When you asked if I was avoiding you and I said no. I lied."

"But why?" he asked, trying to keep the hurt from his face.

"Because you won't go away."

His façade broke at that, and the pain flooded into his eyes. Dropping his gaze from hers, he took a step backwards as he tried to assimilate what she had just told him. He tried to think of something to say – anything – but the words just wouldn't come.

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to fall out of love with you when you're always there, making me smile, making me feel better?"

Nick's head snapped up at her words, confusion evident on his face.

"What?"

"You heard me." She shivered slightly. "Can I come in?"

"Of course," he said automatically, his brain still trying to catch up with what she had sad.

Standing aside, he let her into his apartment, closing the door behind her and going to the hall closet for a towel. He handed it to her, still unable to think of anything to say.

"Earth to Nick," she said, waving her hand in front of his face. "You still with me?"

"Did you say you were trying to fall out of love with me?"

"Yes."

"But that would mean you would have to be in love with me."

"Yes."

"I'm confused."

"Well maybe I can clear things up for you then."

She stepped forward, bringing her body up against his. Then she reached up and brushed her lips softly against his, once, twice. By the third time, Nick's brain was still completely lost, but his body had caught up, and he wrapped his arms around her waist as he kissed her back. Moaning softly, Sara pulled their bodies together completely, ignoring the fact that she was soaking Nick in the process. He didn't seem to mind though, as he tilted his head to deepen the kiss, one hand tangling in her dark curls. When they pulled back, both were breathing heavily, but they made no attempts to move away.

"I'm still confused," Nick confessed.

Sara gave him a small smile.

"A couple weeks ago I was talking to Greg, and he made a comment about us. I've been trying to ignore the fact that I have feelings for you for a long time now, and the fact that he saw something told me that I was hiding it as well as I thought. So I figured that if I put some distance between us, I could get over you."

"Why didn't you just tell me?"

She shrugged, looking uncomfortable.

"I'm not exactly your type."

"Sara? I've had a crush on you since we threw bodies off a roof together."

She frowned. "Really?"

"Really."

"Oh."

"That's all you have to say? Oh?"

"It's hard to think when you're freezing and wet."

"You could take a hot shower."

Sara nodded, bringing up a hand to play with the buttons on his shirt.

"You could take one with me."

"I'd like that."

She gave him another smile then, this time without any fear or discomfort. Smiling back, Nick led her down the hall and into the bathroom, shutting the door firmly behind them.


End file.
